


Manhunt!

by bringtheraincomprix (vespidrankka)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Days 1-3, Manhunt - Freeform, Miracuclass Appreciation Month, alix is too prepared, all of them are here, just a fun game, me trying to write a throwaway fun fic for once! no angst (or romance) here folks sorry, miracuclass, not my best work but then it is like 2am while im writing this, ok i lied there's some little hints of julerose because i love, rose vs kim death battle, sabrina is too much of a boss at this game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2019-07-05 16:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15867186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vespidrankka/pseuds/bringtheraincomprix
Summary: For days 1-3 of Miracuclass Appreciation Month- 'Hide', 'Working Together' and 'I've Got Your Back'.The class gets together in the Grand Paris Hotel for a huge game of Manhunt in the dark. Rose and Kim are our team captains this year.Also Sabrina is way too good at this game, nerf plz, and Alix is extremely prepared for every scenario.I wrote this at 2am lol im so tired





	1. The Game Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> no this whole thing wasn't an excuse to make the closet joke

“Tag! Found you, Ivan!”

“Awww,” Ivan complained, but he grudgingly stomped his way out from behind the curtain. “How come you guys always get me first?”

Rose laughed. “I could see your feet under the curtain, that’s all.” She nudged him. “You’re good at finding people, though, so I’m glad I have you on my team.”

The two of them peered around the dark room. Chloe’s private hotel parties might mean dealing with Chloe for more than ten minutes, but they also meant free run of the hotel, and the annual class game of Manhunt. This year, Rose and Kim had lost the random draw for Seeker, so they had to find everyone else scattered throughout the dark hotel. Whoever found the most people would win the game.

There was a loud scuffle from the hallway, and they heard the _rrrrrrrr_ of tiny wheels on the marble floor. Alix laughed as Kim screeched, “ _No fair! Rollerskates are illegal under Rule 39!”_

“ _These are heelies!”_ came Alix’s retort. Kim’s footsteps thundered by, and Rose waited until the noise had faded to listen carefully.

“I think you’re the only one in here,” she concluded after a few seconds. “We should go before Kim beats us to everyone else.”

Ivan shook his head. “Alix should delay him for at least ten minutes. Maybe more.” He strode towards the door. “But yeah, we should go.” He pulled the door open, and let Rose out, squinting into the shadows one last time before following her outside. He thought he was the only one in the room too, but you could never be sure with people like Juleka and Marinette playing.

Out in the corridor, Rose felt her way along the wall to the next door. “You check in here, I’ll get the next one?” she suggested.

Ivan nodded, then gave a grunt of agreement when he realised she couldn’t see him clearly. He turned the handle, pushing his way into the room, and immediately somebody shot by him, the string of fairy lights tied around her waist trailing behind her.

Rose shrieked and sprinted back down the corridor after Sabrina, but the redhead had too much of a head start and vanished around the corner with a cackle. Before Rose could get around the corner Ivan heard a door slam, and knew Sabrina was already out of sight.

Indeed, Rose took a few slowing steps around the corner and shook her head, beginning to head back towards him.

“Sorry,” Ivan said. “She surprised me.”

“It’s ok!” Rose said cheerily. “Sabrina sulks if she gets caught too early anyway. We’ll get her later.”

Ivan shrugged and pushed the door open wider, squinting into the dark room that Sabrina had just vacated. He began to shuffle his hands along the wall, and heard something in the room shift ever so slightly.

Reaching back with his foot, he pushed the door until it was almost closed again and began to methodically search the room by touch while he waited for his eyes to adjust. He could almost hear the brain cells whirring frantically in the silence, and grinned. “Nice tactic, Max,” he said, and was rewarded with another almost imperceptible sound. “Hoped Sabrina would distract the Seekers from searching the room, huh?”

His vision slowly sharpened until he could make out the slight glint of Max’s glasses; the boy sat with legs folded inside the open closet, pressed back against the wood in an attempt to blend his silhouette with the looming furniture _(Hiding inside closed storage furniture had been banned by Rule 23, ever since the Filing Cabinet Incident of 2013)._

“Gotcha, Max,” Ivan said. “I see you. You’re in the closet.”

“Nice detection, Ivan,” Max conceded. He stood up and dusted himself off. “Might I ask whose team I’ll be joining?”

“Rose is just down the corridor,” Ivan said, making sure to tag Max as he passed by to make the capture official. Max nodded.

“I guessed as much, considering the exchange I heard earlier between Kim and Alix. Did you actually catch Sabrina?”

Ivan shook his head ruefully as they stepped back into the corridor.

“A pity. She’s most useful as a light source.”

Ivan nodded mutely, then heard commotion approaching once again. The whir of Alix’s heelies sounded around the corner, then suddenly she was barrelling down the hall towards them, apparently unaware of their presence. Ivan hesitated, but Max leaned across the corridor and neatly tagged her as she shot by.

 _“Waaaaarghbv- MAX_!” Alix wailed, electing to crash into the wall at the end of the hall rather than brake. “ _I was winning!”_

“I doubt that, since this is supposed to be Manhunt, not speed skating,” Max said drily. Rose had emerged from the room she’d been searching at the hubbub, and edged her way towards the others as Kim rounded the corner, panting.

He perked up at the sight of all of them, poising to run at them, but Ivan and Max quickly raised their hands and declared themselves for Rose. Alix followed suit after grumpily rolling back to the group.

Kim looked a little crushed. “You got Max _and_ Alix?”

“ _And_ a Sabrina sighting,” Rose added.

Kim stepped back. “Right.” He began sidling back around the corner. “Guess it’s time I got moving, then. I bet I can find everyone else _and_ catch Sabrina before-”

“Kim,” Max said in playful warning, and Kim stopped.

“OK,” he amended. “I bet I can get Sabrina.” He glanced at Max. “Good?”

“Yes, Kim. That’s a bit more achievable.”

Alix smirked. “Just a bit, Kim. You’re still setting that bar pretty high.”

Kim waved his hand. “Pfffft. Sabrina isn’t that hard to find.”

Ivan thought about the year they’d all spent an hour and a half hunting Sabrina as a whole class, only to find her boxed within a fortress of bookshelves in the library. That was the year that Rules 27 & 28 had come into effect- _No moving furniture,_ and _Sabrina has to wear a belt of fairy lights._ Listening to Max’s snort of amusement, he knew Max was remembering that too.

Kim cracked his knuckles. “Piece of cake.” He waved cheerily, setting off at a jog in the other direction. “I’m still gonna win this thing.”

When he was gone, Rose’s team bunched together. “So, where should we look next?” Rose asked.

“Alix, any sightings to report?” Max queried.

“I saw Nath heading for the library, and Alya and Adrien were over near the kitchen,” Alix reported. “But that wasn’t recent, so they could be anywhere by now.”

“Nathanael would be a useful asset,” Max commented. “He has a near-photographic memory; he could be a map of the hotel. But since we have two leads to follow up, it might be worth splitting into teams of two.”

“Dibs on The Wall!” Alix said immediately, and Ivan playfully swiped at her. She ducked, smirking. “It’ll be 2014 all over again. Chase and Wall, remember?” She paused. “Except my team won’t lose horribly because of it.”

“Because we’ll be on the same team this time.”

“Pssht. Details.”

“So Rose and I will go after Nathanael,” Max interrupted, “and you two check out the kitchen area.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Alix agreed. “Ivan, c’mon. Stealth mode.” She slipped her heelies off and unzipped her backpack, removing two pairs of slippers. “Give me your shoes.”

\-----

Juleka fought the urge to hum as she sat beneath a table in the great dining hall of the hotel. She hadn’t heard or seen anyone since she’d chosen her spot, but she didn’t lower her guard. Faint yells and footsteps reached her from the rest of the building, and she knew it couldn’t be long until somebody came to thoroughly search the dining room. The large windows allowed some light in despite the drawn curtains, so it wasn’t as pitch black as many of the corridors.

As she thought it, she heard someone walk into the room from the lobby. Flickering lights bounced off the walls, and she realised it must be Sabrina. The redhead was alone, it seemed, and not pursued, judging by the airy way she was strolling through the restaurant. Did that mean she had been caught already?

Juleka held her breath as Sabrina paused to listen. There was a staccato of sudden running steps in the lobby, and Sabrina poised herself to run, before Chloe appeared.

“Hi, Chloe,” Sabrina directed a cheery greeting to her friend, but Juleka noticed that she began to circle around as Chloe walked closer, keeping a safe distance between her and the blonde. “Are you having fun?”

Chloe shrugged. “Kim found me,” she confessed grumpily.

“Oh.” Sabrina backed up more quickly. “Did you get away?”

“What do you think?”

Far from sarcasm, Chloe’s retort was toned as an actual question. Juleka watched avidly, wondering what Sabrina would do.

Sabrina looked nervous. “Well, judging from what I know about how fast both of you can run, and factoring in your superior knowledge of the environment…” she hesitated, “I’d estimate a…” She paused again, apparently doing the calculation in her head, “56% chance that he tagged you.”

Chloe didn’t deny or confirm, just continued to walk menacingly towards Sabrina. Sabrina was running out of manoeuvring room, and her window to make a break for it was closing.

At the last second, Sabrina looked over Chloe’s shoulder, pointed, and cried, “Look!”

Chloe shook her head. “Come on, Sab, I’m not a moron.”

But Juleka had seen what Sabrina had; Alix was speeding in, her feet gliding noiselessly over the marble as she quickly padded up to Chloe. Before Chloe could reach Sabrina, Alix reached out and tagged her. “Freeze,” the pink-haired girl said, invoking the Ice Queen rule, Rule 36, which decreed that if a member of the opposite team was tagged, they had to freeze in place for 5 minutes.

Chloe went rigid, then spun around. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she whined. “I have to stand here for _5 MINUTES?”_

“Well, you made that rule up in the first place,” Alix said. “I had to stand still for about half an hour back in 2016. You got a problem, take it up with yourself, I guess. And no talking while frozen, remember? Rule 37.”

Chloe looked furious, but clamped her mouth shut. Sabrina hovered in place, looking uncertain. Alix glanced at her.

“Go,” Alix said eventually. “I still remember last year.”

Even as Chloe glared daggers at her, Sabrina edged past her frozen friend and, with a last glance at Alix, bolted towards the kitchen door. She crashed through the door and Juleka heard Adrien shout in alarm; Sabrina’s fading voice squealed apologies as the doors swung closed again.

Alix had turned her face towards the door, and she started heading over to the kitchen as panicked scuffling and whispering started inside. Juleka was about to let her breath out when a large hand touched her shoulder, and Ivan’s voice whispered, “Tag.”

 ---

Alya crouched under a kitchen worktop, watching Alix’s slippered feet pass by. Adrien and Mylene had bolted after Sabrina had crashed through, assuming correctly that she would be being pursued, but Alya had elected to stay put. She had never played Manhunt on this large a scale before, but so far it was definitely proving a little boring, if she was honest. The hotel was just a little too big for only 2 initial seekers to hunt in. She guessed it must get better later on, when more people had been caught and there was more actual pursuit and escape strategy put into play.

She adjusted her position slightly, her legs aching from crouching for so long, but luckily Alix didn’t seem to hear her. The short girl left the room shortly after, apparently deciding that Sabrina had scared everyone out of the kitchen. Alya breathed out in relief, and settled herself into a seated position, letting her foot jut out from under the counter just a little.

So it was that, when Chloe shoved the door open three minutes later, Alya was just a little too late to pull her foot out of sight, and Chloe started moving towards her.

In no mood to be stuck on a team with Chloe, Alya scrambled further under the counter, pressing herself against the back wall. Chloe stopped in front of the counter, and started tapping her foot.

“I saw you, Alya. Come out of there.”

“Make me,” Alya responded, slipping her phone out of her pocket. She quickly tapped off an SOS to Marinette. **_Trapped in kitchen by Chloe. Help. Plz._**

Marinette responded within 30 seconds, even as Chloe continued with her passive-aggressive foot tapping. Her message just read **_RIP_** , with a skull emoji.

“Texting your lame friends won’t make me go away,” Chloe snarked.

“Ladybug says she’s coming to save me,” Alya retorted. Chloe shoved her foot under the counter, trying to nudge Alya with her toes, but she couldn’t reach.

“Ha ha. As if Ladybug would waste her time with anything as pointless as this ridiculous game.” Chloe withdrew her foot. “I’m not going to crawl around on this disgusting floor. Get out of there.”

“If it’s a ridiculous game, why do you invite everyone to play it every year?” Alya shot back.

Chloe didn’t answer, instead reaching in with her foot again. Alya, realising the jig was up, clambered out from under the counter, not acknowledging the brush of Chloe’s finger across her shoulder and the muttered “Tag, or whatever.”

“So whose team are we on?” Alya asked, dusting herself off.

“Kim’s,” Chloe responded. “I think we’re losing, though. Rose has Alix, Ivan and Juleka, at least, and I was the first one Kim tagged. Knowing him he hasn’t had any luck since then.”

“Well,” Alya said, taking out her phone. “I can probably find out a few locations with a bit of subterfuge. I might have told Marinette that you found me, but Adrien and Nino don’t know anything about it.”

Chloe feigned disinterest, but she glanced at Alya. “Using mobile phone notifications to locate a player goes against Rule 14.”

“I see. But does it say that the person can’t reveal their own location via text?”


	2. Traps, Tricks and Loopholes

Kim moved as quietly as he was able across the lobby. He’d arrived too late to intercept the runners from the kitchen, having watched Adrien’s foot disappear at the top of a staircase a moment earlier. After chasing Alix straight into the arms of the other team, he’d wondered if maybe his usual chase-down technique wasn’t wise when he was a team leader. His only catch so far had been Chloé, who hadn’t even been trying to hide, just filing her nails in her room. She’d grudgingly wandered off to hunt, but he didn’t trust her to catch anyone.

He crouched on the staircase as someone emerged from the dining hall. It was Ivan, glaring suspiciously around the lobby. Juleka stepped out from behind him, her eyes also piercing the shadows. Their eyes passed harmlessly over him, though, and they crossed the lobby. By the time they registered the sound of his running, he was already there.

“Freeze-freeze!” Kim yelled triumphantly, tagging both of them at the same time as he leapt between them. Ivan rolled his eyes, while Juleka just huffed in apparent good spirits. They both stayed silent, abiding by the rules, and Kim left them there, in high spirits at having immobilised almost half of the enemy team.

When he was out of their sight, back in the winding corridors, he stopped to think, and check the live game standings Max had set up on his phone. The score was currently 2-5. Alix, Max, Ivan and Juleka had all been captured by Rose. He had Chloé. There were still seven students hiding somewhere in the hotel. Where would they be?

Marinette was notoriously difficult to find, second only to Sabrina. She would be holed up in a laundry closet somewhere, probably crouched way back on a top shelf or something. You didn’t look for Marinette, you just stumbled across her. And even found, she was surprisingly swift to escape and dodge potential tags.

Mylene and Nathanael would have picked somewhere with multiple escape routes and lots of places to hide, like Juleka. Nathanael had potentially even set a couple of false trails. Alya and Adrien were new, so Kim didn’t know their strategies yet. And Sabrina was straight up unpredictable.

Nino had probably just picked a random hotel room and hidden behind the shower curtain. Nino always hid in bathrooms, where he had easy access to water. Door locking was banned by Rule 5, but opening a door to where Nino was hidden would always result in some kind of ambush. He was the reason for _Rule 25: No weaponry of any kind._ Kim grinned. The Great Water War of 2014 had been epic, but not quite worth the fit Mayor Bourgeois had thrown the morning after.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. He checked the live updates again. Alya had been tagged onto his team. Chloé must be actually playing properly.

His team was growing. This was doable. Maybe.

\---

Max spotted the trick as soon as they opened the library door. A long and obvious trail of sketch paper led into a back corner of the library, where quiet humming could be heard. It was quite obviously one of Nathan’s famous decoys.

 _Too obviously._ Max scrutinized the room, but all he saw were books upon books upon books. There was no obvious trap. Figuring that Nathan was just concealed somewhere else in the library, hoping to dodge around the Seekers by drawing them away from the door, Max decided on a simple plan.

He gestured to Rose that he was going to follow the trail anyway, and that she should stay put and guard the door. She nodded, and Max began to follow the paper trail, the humming growing louder. Combined with the darkness, and the distortion of the sound by the cavernous nature of the room, Max felt his hackles rise in anxious tension.

He was still startled when Nathan burst through a meticulously constructed book wall on his right, bringing hundreds of tomes toppling down on both of them. Abandoning her post, Rose came running over at the loud clatter, worried about Max, and Nathan dodged her swipe and ran for the door.

A little dazed, Max had to admit that he had not even seen the neatly stacked book wall against the library’s backdrop. Nathan had clearly been here since the very start of the game, setting up an ambush escape method.

“Rule 27, no moving furniture!” Rose shrieked indignantly, but Nathan shouted back as he darted out of the door.

“Books aren’t furnit- aaaaaaaaa!”

“Tag!” Kim’s voice shouted gleefully, before he poked his head around the door. “Heheh, thanks, guys- Whoa, Max, are you OK, buddy?” His face dropped into concern

Max straightened his glasses. “I’m fine, thank you.” He started to dig himself out of the pile of books while Nathan came shuffling back into the library, leaning up to take his phone off the top of a shelf and stop the recording of his humming.

“That took so long to build!” Nathan grumbled, gesturing to the remains of his wall. “And I didn’t even get away.”

“Hey, you might have if I wasn’t passing by!” Kim patted him on the back. “Welcome to Team Kim. We have Alya and Chloé and…. that’s all so far.”

Nathan grimaced. “Great. Chloé. Just who I wanted on my team. Where was she ‘hiding’ this time? Or was she just going about her normal business? You know, draining kitten souls on her balcony?”

“Eh, she was filing her nails in her room.” Kim shrugged. “She said she’d broken one, but they all looked fine to me.”

Rose shook her head. “Anyway, I think you need to repeat the Pledge, Nathanael. Those were not nice things to say about Chloé.” Max and Kim nodded.

“Rule Numero Uno, pal,” Kim said, shaking his head. “We all agreed, no dissing Chloé tonight.”

Nathan grumbled, but raised his hand in a peace sign, and begrudgingly performed the Manhunt Chloé-Tolerance pledge. “We do not speak ill of Miss Chloe Bourgeois in this place on this night, for through her eternal and gracious generosity she provides us with this greatest of games every year.” He continued with the three Amendments, whispered in secrecy after the starting Pledge but spoken aloud here, away from Chloe’s ears. “Even if she makes up rules midgame to ruin our fun. And doesn’t even play the game properly herself half the time. And makes Sabrina buy her own fairy lights.”

Rose applauded lightly, giggling, while Kim snorted. Then Max stood up at last, and they all hesitated, remembering the team dynamic of the room. Then hands flew, and four voices shouted “Freeze!” at the same time.

\---

Nino Lahiffe was no fool. He trusted no texts from any of his friends during this game. Even without Marinette’s warning, he would never have sent a description of his current, exact location to Alya. Ever.

Adrien, on the other hand… would probably be less aware of the danger.

Nino looked down at his trap. He’d bunched up a shower curtain in his arms to form a basin, then filled it with water. His ambushes were his favourite part of the game, and he knew he was feared by his classmates because of them. He needed to uphold his reputation. But… he also wanted to protect his bro. He couldn’t text Adrien and hold the trap up at the same time, though.

As he was toying with his options the door swung open. He blinked from behind his shower curtain shelter for a second before automatically unleashing the ambush, flipping his arms up to splash whoever had walked in. There was a shriek, and when Nino looked up Mylene was standing there, looking shocked, unimpressed and pretty drenched.

“Uh.” Nino dropped the curtain. “You’ll never take me alive?”

Mylene shook water off her braids. “I’m still neutral! I was just looking for somewhere to hide. Sabrina led some Seekers right to us in the kitchen, so Adrien and I made a run for it.”

“Is that Nino in there?” Adrien’s voice drifted around the door. “Wait, Mylene, why are you all wet?”

“Nino likes to ambush people with water traps, haven’t you heard?” Mylene shook her head again, but she didn’t seem angry, just resigned.

“Adrien!” Nino stepped past Mylene to grab his bro. “Thought Alya might have reeled you in, bro. She’s definitely a Seeker now.”

“Well, she did stay behind in the kitchen when we left,” Adrien said. “I had a feeling she might be trying to trick me, especially when Chloé started texting me as well.” He grinned. “I told them I was hiding out in the penthouse. With the elevators powered off, it should take them a while to realise I lied.”

Nino grinned back, and shook out his stiff arms. “Nice work, bro. Hey, I can finally check the stats now. Who’s winning?”

Mylene unlocked her phone. “Latest update: Kim’s team, 3. Chloé and Alya. Rose’s team, 5. Ivan, Max, Alix and Juleka. Still at large, 6. Us, Sabrina, Nathanael and Marinette. That’s as of 3 minutes ago.” She tapped the screen. “Oh. There goes Nath, he’s on Kim’s team now.”

“Wish we’d had this tech every year,” Nino said appreciatively. “It’ll definitely make things easier.”

“Yes, now we know who to run from and who’s safe,” Mylene agreed.

“As opposed to just running from everyone.”

“Or just throwing water on everyone,” Mylene shot back.

“Wait.” Adrien interrupted. “Who’s updating the teams so quickly?”

\---

In the hotel security room, in front of a wall of monitors, Markov flitted back and forth, cheerily watching the teens and recording their locations on a paper map of the hotel, moving the little chips around to keep track of them all. Max had instructed him to start leaking more information as the Hiders’ numbers fell; who was grouped together, for example, and the occasional Seeker location or significant event. He tapped in a new alert. “Maybe next year, I will be able to play!” he chirped to himself.

\---

Alix, after leaving the kitchen, decided to loop back around and re-join Ivan. A part of her wanted to sneak back into the dining hall and tag Chloé again, but she knew there wasn’t much justification for it. She changed back to her heelies, and made her way back to the lobby down a different corridor. By the time she arrived, she found Ivan and Juleka standing in place.

“Are you two frozen?” she asked. They blinked owlishly at her. She sighed. “Blink once for no, twice for yes.”

Two blinks from both of them.

“How long left?”

Two blinks again.

“Fine, I can wait.” She shuffled her feet, keeping watch over the lobby, but it all seemed quiet. She checked the stats. As she watched, Nathan was tagged onto Kim’s team. Damn, he was closing the gap. Then, just before Ivan and Juleka were due to unfreeze, another notification appeared.

_Trap triggered- Mylene <\- Nino_

“Huh.” Alix smiled. “Neat. Markov’s really pulling out all the stops.” She looked at the other two. “You’re done, and Mylene’s found Nino,” she smirked, and the others snorted, starting to move again.

“So what’s our next move?” Juleka asked.

Alix rolled her eyes. “Finally go to the bathroom, duh.”

\---

Marinette lay sprawled on the top of a bookcase in the library, watching her four frozen classmates in amusement. She’d headed here before Nathanael had even arrived, and silently watched him set up his trap. Now, though, her arms were getting uncomfortable. So she sat up, and stretched, before hopping to the floor and stepping around the shelf into their line of sight.

She could feel Tikki’s pouch vibrating with the kwami’s giggles as 4 heads snapped around, to stare at her in disbelief.

Nathanael opened his mouth, but closed it again. He and Kim glared at her sullenly as she padded by them, smiling sweetly. Rose’s eyes were crinkled with amusement as she tried to hold in her laughter. Max rolled his eyes.

“Well, I think it’s time I found somewhere else to hide,” Marinette said breezily. “See you all later!” With a little wave, she stepped out of the library doors, striding off to her right with exaggerated certainty. Once out of sight she took out her phone to check the scores, and made a mental note to stay away from bathrooms, before she rounded the corner to spot a string of little lights.

Sabrina stopped in her tracks, narrowing her eyes suspiciously, but Marinette held her hands up. “I’m not a Seeker,” she said. “And I wouldn’t go that way, there are 4 Seekers frozen in the library. They’ll be running this way in a few minutes.”

“Where are you going, then?” Sabrina asked, only relaxing a little.

Marinette shrugged noncommittally. “I was just going to find somewhere else to hide.”

Sabrina sighed. “I wish I could still do that. I’m still discovering new hiding spots in the hotel all the time, but because I have to wear this,” she swatted moodily at the fairy lights, “I can’t use them.”

Marinette looked thoughtfully at the lights, her brain whirring. “Remind me. What’s the exact wording of Rule 28 again?”

Sabrina looked down at her phone, scrolling down the rule list. “ _Sabrina must always wear a belt of fairy lights, unconcealed by any other item of clothing or other fastening.”_ She looked up. “What’s your point- wait-” A mischievous smile spread across her face. Marinette smiled back, and both of them pointed out the obvious loophole in the rule in unison.

“It doesn’t say they have to be switched on.”

Sabrina reached for the little switch box, and clicked it off, plunging them into darkness. She blinked, her eyes rushing to adjust to the new darkness.

“So,” Marinette said. “Tell me about these new hiding places you’ve found. Are any of them suitable for both of us?” She glanced at her phone. “But we’d better get moving, it’ll only be two minutes before they unfreeze.” She started speed-walking down the corridor, away from the library.

Sabrina tilted her head, but started hurrying after Marinette. “Why do we need to hide in the same place?”

“So that if we’re found, there’s more chance that one of us will get away.” Marinette shrugged. “It’s just strategy. And hiding alone gets boring after a while.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Sabrina agreed. “That year I spent the whole time in the library, at least I could read a little, but it really made my eyes hurt because it was so dark.” She fiddled with her belt of lights. “Are you sure this isn’t cheating?”

“It’s a loophole,” Marinette said. “It’ll be amended if people think it’s unfair. Personally, I voted against Rule 28. You were a really good hider, and I think the lights were too strong a nerf for your strategy. I can propose a rule change at the end of the night, if you like. Maybe we should put a bell on you instead, or something.” She chuckled.

Sabrina brightened. “Oooh! I could wear my Chat Noir costume! That would be so much fun.” Then she frowned. "And… I don’t know what ‘nerf’ means, but I can guess from the context.” She crossed the corridor and pushed a door open. “In here.” She glanced behind them as footsteps began to echo towards them. “Quickly.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so i'm a day behind but it's fine. all good. 
> 
> i need my own damn map of where all the characters are, geez


	3. Closing the Net

Chloé slumped down against the wall of the penthouse suite and whined, “I can’t believe Adrikins lied to me!”

Alya paced nearby. “I guess my plan didn’t work,” she grumbled. “Nino was too smart to even entertain the idea of telling me where he was, and Adrien must have caught on too.” She sighed. “Oh, well. Let’s go, then.”

Chloé looked at her in haughty bemusement. “Go where?”

“To keep looking, obviously,” Alya said. “What, you’re going to just sit here and sulk because of a little setback?”

“I don’t sulk.”

“Whatever you say, but let’s get moving. I don’t think anyone’s going to be up here, they’re all on the lower floors.” Alya was interrupted by Chloé’s phone as it buzzed, once, twice, then repeatedly in rapid succession.

Chloé gave her screen a cursory glance. “It’s a group call from Max’s little robot thing.”

“Well? Aren’t you going to answer?” Alya said impatiently. “It might be important!”

“If you give me two seconds, yes!” Irritably Chloé pressed the screen and the call opened.

“Greetings, Max and friends! It is now time for the Location Reveal!” Markov’s voice chirped through the speaker. “I have only called one member of each group, for maximum efficiency!”

“Location Reveal?” Mylene’s panicked voice came through the phone.

“No need to be afraid, Mylene!” Markov chirped. “I am merely going to reveal the current groupings and their locations by floor. I am led to understand that revealing exact locations is against the spirit of this game.”

“It’s just an easier method than the text network we used in previous years,” Max said in the call.

“Yeah, this way we don’t have to have a million group texts flying around,” Kim added. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“May I proceed?” Markov inquired, and when faint sounds of agreement were the only response, he pressed on.

“First, Kim’s team. The current groups and locations are: Kim and Nathanael, located on the first floor, and Chloé and Alya, on the penthouse level.”

“What the hell are you two doing up there?” Kim said incredulously, while Chloé and Alya exchanged glances as the distant sound of Adrien and Nino’s hysterical laughter sounded through the call.

“Long story,” Alya said.

Markov continued. “Second, Rose’s team: the current groupings are Rose and Max, on the first floor, and Alix, Ivan and Juleka, also on the first floor.”

“Time to expand our search a bit, team!” Rose chimed, but Max cut her off.

“Let’s wait and see where the Hiders are first, Rose.”

“Finally, the five remaining Hiders!” Markov shuffled for a second, tapping at something. “The groups are Mylene, Nino and Adrien, on the third floor, and Sabrina and Marinette, on the second floor.”

“All right!” Kim cheered. “Three for the price of one! Coming for you, third floor squad!” There was a click as he hung up, cutting off the sound of Nathan’s protests.

“I will call again when the game is over to announce the winner!” Markov chirped, unperturbed by Kim’s disconnection. “Call ending in 5…4...3…”

“My team, regroup in the lobby!” Rose squeaked, before the call went dead.

Alya looked at Chloé. “So, should we go help our fearless leader on the third floor?”

Chloé sighed. “I can’t face stairs again yet, even to go down them.”

Alya rolled her eyes. “I can and will leave without you. I’m not sitting up here with you and missing all the fun.”

“Ugh. Fine. Two more minutes.” Chloé swatted the air dismissively. “But I think we’re better off going after Sabrina and Dupain-Cheng. Not like they can be hiding, with Sabrina’s lights and everything.”

Alya nodded slowly. “You do have a point. And everyone else will probably go after the group of three first. So we should be clear to look for them without being frozen.”

“I can live without being frozen again,” Chloé agreed. “And if Sab thinks she’s getting away from me again, she’s quite, quite wrong.”

\---

Adrien hurried after Nino as his friend led the way up the long spiral staircase. They had quickly decided that the risk of colliding with Alya and Chloé on the way back down was far less than the stampede coming at them from the floors below. Mylene, on his heels, was swinging her head back and forth in paranoid surveillance as they hurried upwards.

A door opened a few floors below them and they all froze simultaneously. Then they heard one open above as well, and Chloé’s voice began to echo in the stairway.

“Chloé!” Kim’s voice came from below them, and the three looked at each other in horror. “Are you two coming to help us look for the Third Floor squad?”

“We’re going after Sabrina and Marinette!” came the response from Alya.

“Great plan!” Kim’s voice responded. “With a bit of luck, we can get all five Hiders that are left and leave Rose in the dust.”

Adrien felt a nudge, and looked at Nino to see his friend gesturing to continue up, slowly. He jabbed a finger towards the next door up, and Adrien nodded. Then Nino pointed to Mylene, and Adrien spun on the spot to relay the plan to Mylene, only for his shoe to squeak loudly.

The footsteps below stopped. “What was that?” Nathan asked.

“Was that you?” Alya called from the top at the same time. Looking up, Adrien saw Chloé leaning over the banister. They locked eyes and Chloé opened her mouth in a wide shout.

“It’s them!” she shrieked, and  the footsteps below and above became frantic, thundering towards them. Abandoning stealth, the three Hiders made a break for the door. Adrien was surprised when Mylene shot past him, her panicked scurry almost keeping pace with Nino’s long strides. Adrien could almost hear Plagg chiding him for his lack of stealth and speed as Nino reached the door first and wrenched it open, just as Chloé came half-tumbling down the stairs onto their landing, her eyes wild with the thrill of the chase.

Nino leaped through the door as Chloé reached for them, and in a split second Adrien and Mylene came to the realisation that only one of them was getting through that door before Chloé arrived.

Chat took over and Adrien threw himself into the line of fire, batting aside the manicured hand that was grasping for Mylene even as its partner closed on his shoulder. Mylene shot him a grateful smile as she shot through the door and slammed it.

Alya arrived and wrenched it open again, but Adrien saw Mylene’s ankle vanish around a corner and knew Nino would hide them both before the Seekers could catch up.

Chloé was glaring at him. She let go after moodily muttering, “Tag,” and narrowed her eyes. “Adrikins!” she simpered. “How could you lie to me?”

Adrien shrugged. “It’s a game, Chlo. You couldn’t expect me to tell you where I was.”

Chloé pouted for a moment longer, then hugged his arm. “I understand, Adrikins. At least now we can spend the rest of the game together!”

“I thought you and Alya were going after Marinette and Sabrina,” Kim said, finally arriving on the landing. Nathan could be heard panting, still a floor below.

“Adrikins can come too,” Chloé declared, but Kim shook his head.

“I need Adrien to stay with me,” he said. “He’ll be key for tracking down Mylene and Nino.”

Adrien looked at Kim, conflicted. Kim clapped him on the back.

“You did well at hiding for a beginner,” Kim said seriously. “But you’re a Seeker now, and your loyalty now is to me. Now, where do you think they’ve run off to?”

\---

Rose stood in the lobby, her team looking at her. “So, what’s our next move?” Alix asked.

Rose looked at Max, but he just smiled. “You’re the team leader,” he said, inclining his head.

“O-oh.” Rose glanced at Juleka, who shot her an encouraging smile. “U-um.” Rose looked away, blushing a little. “Well… I think…”

There was a collective buzz from all of their phones. “Kim’s got Adrien,” Alix said, her voice terse. They all stayed silent, but after a long minute passed with no more buzzes, they relaxed.

“Guess Mylene and Nino got away,” Ivan said, a hint of pride in his tone.

“Yeah, but for how long?” Alix countered. “We have to get moving!”

They all looked at Rose again.

“Ah!” Rose wracked her brain frantically for a plan. “Ok. Alix, you go with Ivan. Head to the second floor and look for Sabrina and Marinette. Sabrina’s lights should make it hard for them to hide, so check each room quickly. Use whatever technique you want to catch them, just make sure that you do catch them.”

“What if they’ve left the second floor?” Alix challenged.

Rose’s mind raced, but Max rescued her.

“I doubt they’d have risked it,” Max said. “From the call, they know they’re positioned right between the Seekers on the lower floor and the Hiders above them, so they’d know the second floor would be busy. Theoretically Marinette could have moved without Sabrina, but that doesn’t seem like something Marinette would do.”

Alix nodded, seeming satisfied.

Rose looked at Juleka again. “Juleka, Max and I will head upwards to try and freeze Kim’s team and look for Nino and Mylene. If you catch Sabrina and Marinette, come and join us.”

“And if Nino and Mylene are captured, we’ll come and join you,” Max added. “Keep us posted on your location.”

“Is that a plan?” Rose bravely stuck her hand out into the middle of the group. Juleka immediately placed her hand on top of it, and Ivan followed. Max snorted, but put his hand in, and Alix was last, but most enthusiastic, slapping her hand down on top of Max’s so that he winced slightly.

“We’re so gonna win this,” Juleka whispered, and the five of them tossed their hands upwards with a whispered cheer before disbanding to follow the plan.

\---

Nathanael reached the landing in time to see Chloé stomp moodily towards him; he flinched, but she just stormed straight by him, down the stairs, with Alya in tow. Kim was standing with Adrien, who Nathanael assumed they had caught, both their heads bowed in hushed conversation.

Kim turned to greet him as he arrived. “Our newest team member,” he said, tipping his head towards Adrien. “We’re even with Rose now, and Adrien’s going to help us track down the rest of his squad.”

“I don’t know that I’ll be much help really,” Adrien said uncertainly. “They know I was tagged, so it’s not as if Nino will just tell me where he is.”

“What if Nino rigs up another trap?” Nathan said worriedly.

Kim grinned. “We’ll send pretty boy in first to every bathroom. Like Nino’s going to soak his best bro.”

Adrien sighed. “Great. Thanks.”

Kim slung an arm around his shoulders. “Hey. As Max would say, it’s just strategy.”

“Do you want to get moving?” Nathan asked. “They’ll be getting further away.”

“That’s the plan,” Kim said, wrenching the door open and listening briefly to the hallway before striding through. “Now, Adrien, did you see which way they went?”

“Left at the end of the corridor,” Adrien said. “I’d assume they went into a room then, in case someone chased them. But I can’t be sure.”

The three boys walked steadily down the corridor, making as little sound as possible. When they rounded the corner, they found that the corridor only stretched a little way before ending in a wall. Two doors sat opposite one another, the only escape routes from the corridor.

“This one’s just a cleaner’s room,” Nathan said, looking at the sign next to the door on the left. “And the other one is a conference lounge, which I assume has another exit. This can’t be all there is of this floor.”

“Would Nino have taken the time to read these, though?” Adrien asked thoughtfully.

“Well,” Kim said. “Here’s what we’ll do. Each of you pick a door. I’ll stay in the corridor, so if anyone bolts I’ll be here to catch them.”

Adrien deliberated a moment before stepping over to the cleaner’s closet. Nathan accordingly took his place in front of the door to the conference room, and quickly pushed the door open. He looked around, squinting into the shadows. All of the rows of the chairs seemed to be undisturbed, and as he had suspected, there was another door on the other side of the room, which was hanging ajar.

Then he heard a shriek behind him, and spun around to see Nino upending a mop bucket over Adrien’s head. Nino slammed the yellow bucket over his friend’s head and jumped around him, as Kim sprang forward to intercept but ended up colliding with Adrien, who had staggered back in alarm, blinded.

“You’ll never take me alive!” Nino screeched, his trademark cry, as he prepared to race away back towards the staircase.

Shaking off his surprise, Nathan lunged, diving at the fleeing Nino. He managed to grab the DJ’s ankle in the dark, and heard the satisfying _thunk_ as Nino went sprawling.

“Tag,” he said, and Nino groaned in response. Then both of them were splattered with water as Adrien shook out his blonde hair.

“Nice catch, Nath!” Kim said appreciatively. “We’re in the lead now!”

“Are you OK, Nino?” Adrien asked worriedly, setting the mop bucket down.

“Ugghhh… a bit winded, and this might be a sprain as well,” Nino complained as he sat up, nursing his ankle.

“Sorry,” Nathan said, rubbing at his own elbow, which had collided quite painfully with the floor in his dive.

Nino grinned at him. “Nah, no holds barred, dude! Those are the rules.”

Kim’s phone began to ring then, and he picked up. “Yellow?”

Markov’s voice came through the speaker. “I have perceived a potential injury. Friend Nino, do you require medical assistance?”

Nino chuckled. “No thanks, little dude, I’ll live.”

“Survival rate is not always a good indicator of injury severity-”

“Markov, he’s fine,” Kim said. “It’s a figure of speech.”

“Noted.” Markov was silent for a moment. “May I assist in any other way?”

“Yeah, uh, where’s Mylene?”

“Friend Kim, you know that is classified information.”

“Damn.” Kim snapped his fingers. “Worth a try.”

“Foiled again, as Friend Max would say,” Markov chimed. “I will now hang up.” _Click._

“Max has programmed that little guy too well,” Kim grumbled.

Nino stood up, gingerly testing his ankle. He winced. “Yeah. I’ve definitely pulled something. Or rather, Nath has.”

“I said sorry,” Nathan repeated.

“And I said, dude, it’s chill,” Nino responded. “I just won’t be chasing down any Sabrinas any time soon.”

“It’s fine, we sent Chloé and Alya after her and Mari,” Kim said. “We’re just after Mylene.”

Nino glanced into the conference room. “Oh, are you?” He shrugged. “Think you might’ve just missed her.”

Right then, all of them heard a door slam in the conference room.

\---

Mylene cursed Nino under her breath as she snapped the door shut. Her plan had been by the book; open a door on the other side of the room so they would think she was gone. She’d crouched behind the lectern when Nathan had opened the door, barely breathing, but he’d left the door open, and she hadn’t been able to get up the courage to sprint for the door. She’d been hoping Nino would lead them away in a chase so she could escape, but he’d been caught instead.

So she’d waited until they were talking to attempt to leave. As she’d been prying the door open, Nino had looked up and locked eyes with her.

So now she was running blindly along yet another empty corridor on who knew which floor, listening to the footsteps growing louder behind her. She looked at the doors as they flashed past, but she could hear her pursuer only a few metres behind her already, so she could no longer hide.

Adrenaline gave her a little extra speed, and she drew ahead for a few glorious moments before she crashed headlong into someone, tumbling onto the floor. Both of them squeaked in surprise.

“Rose!” A voice said in alarm.

“Mylene, is that you?” a third voice asked, as the footsteps closed in. “Juleka, tag her, tag her!”

“Fine, tag!” Juleka said quickly, brushing a hand across Mylene’s shoulder, but her priorities were clearly elsewhere. Mylene felt hands pull her gently to her feet, and found herself looking at Max as Kim and Adrien pulled up a metre away, slightly breathless.

“Damn it!” Kim said.

Max stepped away from Mylene and over to Kim, and before Kim could respond, Max laid a hand on his arm and whispered, “Freeze.”

Kim went rigid, then drooped his head in resignation. Max smiled and opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by Adrien’s light touch and clearly-stated, “Freeze.”

Max blinked, but smiled good-naturedly, his hand still on Kim’s arm. Adrien looked over the four members of the other team watching him and beat a hasty retreat, slinking back the way he had come to rejoin the other members of his team.

Juleka had helped Rose to her feet, and was helping her brush herself off. “Juleka, I’m fine,” Rose said comfortingly. “She just surprised me!”

“Sorry, I wasn’t really looking where I was going,” Mylene said sheepishly.

“It’s perfectly OK!” Rose said happily. “Welcome to Team Rose! Now we aren’t losing any more!”

Juleka chuckled. “What a motto, Rose.”

“Well, it’s true!” Rose said, crossing her arms with a faux pout. “And now we have a whole team to devote to finding Marinette and Sabrina!”

“Who wins if we tie?” a voice asked. It was Adrien, stepping cautiously back into sight with Nino and Nathan behind him. They stayed noticeably on the other side of Kim and Max.  “If we get one each of the last two hiders, we’ll be in a draw.”

“If we tie, each team hides their team leader somewhere,” Nino answered. “We’d get 10 minutes to stash Kim somewhere, and they’d hide Rose somewhere. The first team to find the other’s leader and bring them to the lobby wins. It’s like capture the flag, but with people.”

“We’ve only done that once,” Juleka added. “Usually it comes down to Hunt-The-Sabrina or Hunt-The-Marinette, but one team has already won at that point.”

Mylene looked at Rose. “So are we going to join up with Ivan now?”

Rose giggled. “Of course, Mylene. Now come on, let’s go before Kim unfreezes.”

“Sorry Max,” Juleka added. “You’ll be able to find us though, right?”

“We’ll go too, then,” Nathan decided. “A different direction. Get in touch when you unfreeze, OK, Fearless Leader?”

Amused, the two teams parted ways, leaving Kim and Max standing side by side in the corridor.


End file.
